Return of the Book Thread

[Tmon]

Yeah.  I prefaced it the way I did because there are always about 10 neckbeards lined up to shit on a statement like the one I made.  I am really going to make an effort to read a lot more of his stuff.

I like the way King writes and I read everything he wrote as fast as it hit the book store shelves, but "It" pretty much sucked the will to read any more of him out of me for the next 25 years or so.  When I came across Under the Dome right after I bought my nook I bought it just for the hell of it and discovered that I still liked the way he writes, but am still tired of the stories he tells.

[Threash]

One of the biggest reasons i love the Stand and recommend World War Z to anyone likes it is because they both actually show the world going to shit.  Most post apocalyptic books skip that and go right to the after party, hell even both those books are a lot better at the world going to shit parts than at the what happens after parts.

[Khaldun]

Yeah.  I prefaced it the way I did because there are always about 10 neckbeards lined up to shit on a statement like the one I made.  I am really going to make an effort to read a lot more of his stuff.

The Shining and The Dead Zone are unambiguously great books and honestly I think count as 'literature', whatever that is. The Stand is a bit sloppy and the underlying reliance on Old Testament religion being 'true' is never really fully thought through (which of course the book is conscious of and eventually explicitly rejects in its actual plot), but it's a good read. Salem's Lot is good but definitely reads as early in his career, Carrie also but Carrie is about on par with The Shining and The Dead Zone. Firestarter is good, not great. Cujo, Christine, Pet Sematary are pretty forgettable, they were written when King was heavily addicted to booze and drugs. Misery is a return to his best form--really great. I haven't liked much of what he's done since so much, though none of it is out-and-out bad except for maybe The Girl That Loved Tom Gordon.

On Writing is also a very good read of a different kind.

I have mixed feelings about The Dark Tower, partly because I don't like the metafictional turn of the later books. Reminds me a bit of Heinlein's similar turn late in his life.

[bhodi]

I really liked The Shining, The Stand was just okay, but outside of the dark tower books, The Tommyknockers is probably my favorite King book. The metafiction thing was only a chapter or two, and while a bit eyerolling, it wasn't any more horrible than some parts of otherwise good series that I've read. Most of Wizard and Glass, for example.

[HaemishM]

Other than the Dark Tower, I haven't really been all that impressed with anything King wrote after It. They aren't TERRIBLE books, they just aren't interesting. You can almost feel the paycheck grasping in most of the stuff he wrote in the late '80's and early '90's.

[Rasix]

I have a fondness for Salem's Lot.  I enjoyed reading that a lot.   Eyes of the Dragon is a fun read, but really generic/cheesy.  Reads like something King wrote in middle school.

[ghost]

The Stand is the only book by Stephen King that I can stand.   

I liked It and Tommyknockers when I was a kid, but they are kids' books, IMO.  In fact, most of his earlier writing was geared towards teenagers, which isn't such a bad thing.  I'm sure I'll suggest to my kids to read his books when they get that age.  I don't care for the Dark Tower series, but I haven't tried it in a while.  It might have improved as I've aged, but I doubt it.  Much of his later stuff seems pretty derivative to me, but my wife likes it so there you go.   

[Cyrrex]

I've probably argued it before, but it probably depends a bit on what you want out of your books.  I care most about interesting characters (this is not necessarily to say "deep" characters, that is something else), and I think King writes them amazingly well.  I'm sure a lot of people consider it literary diarrhea, but I love how he gives us every strange, rambling and inappropriate thought that his character is thinking.  I always really get a mental picture of the character, and feel like I really know him/her, because they seem to actually think in all the strange and wonderful ways that real people think, even if in reality it is embellished quite a bit.  I end up caring a great deal about them, or at least be able to relate to them.  I shed actual tears on four separate occasions when reading the Dark Tower.  
 
That has happened to me exactly zero other times in zero other books.

[croaker69]

It's actually rather explicit in the very first book he wrote in the series. I just assumed that it was his way of saying "See I am not Tolkien!" since it was a difference that made no difference. (Third Age Middle-Earth also being a post-apocalyptic world of sorts.)

Yeah he just ripped it from Saberhagen.

[Khaldun]

The thing I always thought was best about King even at his weakest (and why I think of him as similar to Dickens) is that he's really a very acute observer of the minute everyday details of late 20th Century American social and cultural life in mostly white rural communities and middle-class suburbia.

[Bzalthek]

Just finished listening to Look to Windward by Iain M. Banks.  It gets pretty deep in certain areas, which can seem like a chore if you're not particularly interested, I suppose.  But the narrator, I think it's Robert Lister, does a very good job fleshing out the characters with his voice.  Now to load in Matter!

[Xilren's Twin]

So how bout that Memory of Light eh? 
I think the overall lack of comment tends to mean most people that read it had the same general reaction i did.
"It was fine, but thank God that's over".  Personally I'm more looking forward to Sanderson next book in the Way of Kings than i was for this b/c i knew going in it would have to be a crammed tie up as many plot points as we can book, and it was.

[Chimpy]

Memory of Light was good. I felt it was a much tighter read than pretty much any of the other WoT books, but the sentiment of the 20 year journey being finally over is the overarching thing.

[Rasix]

Still reading it, taking it slow.  It's a bit of a different experience to have this much action. 

[Bzalthek]

I had some giddy moments with the books.  I really enjoyed it.  Though, yes, I have to admit I have a "thank god it's finished".  To be honest after over 20 years, most of what happened isn't much of a shocker, and while the ending felt a wee bit flat to me, I thought is was a damn worthy end to the series.  Sanderson did a better job than I think Jordan would have, and he still impressed me.  Overall, I feel more content than anything else, having it finally finished.

[Morat20]

I felt that way when I finally read the last Dark Tower book. (I also yelled at the book a number of times). Then I got pissed at my Dad and my wife, both of whom never picked up the damn series until after it was finished.

The fuckers.

[Khaldun]

I assume the last thirty pages concern Egwene's hair.

[Chimpy]

I assume the last thirty pages concern Egwene's hair.

[HaemishM]

So yeah, remember when I said my new book would be out in the summer? Then the fall? Yeah, it's winter now. And it's out.

The Long and the Short Swords is my new book. It's only available as an eBook for the moment, kind of as a soft launch. The paperback will be coming in the next month or two. You can find your preferred format here. Also, the web site has a new look, taking advantage of some HTML5 and parallax scrolling stuff I've had to learn for my day job.

Ninjas, technomancers, smartass protagonist, cyberpunk. What more could you want???

/whoremode off

[RhyssaFireheart]

So yeah, remember when I said my new book would be out in the summer? Then the fall? Yeah, it's winter now. And it's out.

The Long and the Short Swords is my new book. It's only available as an eBook for the moment, kind of as a soft launch. The paperback will be coming in the next month or two. You can find your preferred format here. Also, the web site has a new look, taking advantage of some HTML5 and parallax scrolling stuff I've had to learn for my day job.

Ninjas, technomancers, smartass protagonist, cyberpunk. What more could you want???

/whoremode off

Bought.

[shiznitz]

Bought it, Haemish.  Don't say an evil Republican never did anything for ya!

[Merusk]

You were more honest than that guy who wrote Dan Dies at the End so I might just pick it up to send you a few cents.

[Salamok]

So yeah, remember when I said my new book would be out in the summer? Then the fall? Yeah, it's winter now. And it's out.

The Long and the Short Swords is my new book. It's only available as an eBook for the moment, kind of as a soft launch. The paperback will be coming in the next month or two. You can find your preferred format here. Also, the web site has a new look, taking advantage of some HTML5 and parallax scrolling stuff I've had to learn for my day job.

Ninjas, technomancers, smartass protagonist, cyberpunk. What more could you want???

/whoremode off

I visited the site expecting to see some cool parallax effects, I am disappoint.

[HaemishM]

/shrug

First effort with parallax scrolling both from a design and a HTML coding standpoint. Also, not entirely sure parallax is worthwhile for web design but since I had to learn it for my day job anyway, this was a good use of my time.

[Salamok]

Wasn't bad just wasn't what I would consider parallax, maybe it was too subtle and I missed it.  I think of parallax scrolling as multiple objects scrolling at different rates, usually referencing some off screen perspective point to determine what those rates are, when you only have 1 object moving it doesn't produce this effect.

[HaemishM]

Yeah, there are only one or two items per block, so the effect isn't that noticeable. Like I said, mostly a tutorial to get the concepts down (and to make sure I could integrate it with Joomla).

[WayAbvPar]

Bought, added to my reading queue. Kindle Store link didn't work for me on your site, but I found it anyway. Can't remember if I read the third or not yet, but I have it in my library.

[Hammond]

Bought it, read it between my re-read of the Wheel of Time series.

[lamaros]

Anyone else read Wool? Good short story to start, but such a letdown with the longer stuff.

[Lt.Dan]

I enjoyed Wool overall.  You could really tell it started off as a one off short story.  The first chapter was a nice self-contained concept which happened to set the scene for the longer episodic serial.  My only complaint was the jarring change in pace after the big reveal  but I still enjoyed it and have recommended it to others. 

It's been picked up as a movie and it'll make a pretty good screen translation, although they could stuff it up by writing a different twist.

[Viin]

Where have you been? I thought the transition from the first story to the rest was fine - still some mystery there (who put them there? where are they? who's in charge? how long have they been there? who destroyed the world? etc).

The prequels are good too, Third Shift just came out. You find out a bit more about the above.

[Cyrrex]

Yeah, I have read the latest, but I rather liked all the Wool stuff.  It made me want to play Fallout 3 like a motherfucker.

[lamaros]

I found the science errors and logic of the world really flawed, and the characters were cardboard cutouts. There was a lot of enjoyable stuff in it, but I felt empty at the end - not a lot of depth to the concept and ideas.

[HaemishM]

Bought it, read it between my re-read of the Wheel of Time series.

Thanks everyone who has given me money for my books. I hope you like them!

[Sky]

Will there be copious braid-tugging?